Part 2, Chapter 9: Communion with Christ in Holiness

Of communion with Christ in holiness. The several acts ascribed unto the Lord Christ herein. 1. His intercession. 2. Sending of the Spirit. 3. Bestows habitual grace; what that is, and wherein it consists. This purchased by Christ: bestowed by him. Of actual grace. How the saints hold communion with Christ in these things: manifested in sundry particulars.

Our communion with the Lord Jesus, as to that grace of sanctification, and purification, whereof we have made mention in the several distinctions, and degrees thereof formerly, is nextly to be considered. And herein the former method must be observed; and we must show. 1. What are the peculiar actings of the Lord Christ as to this communion: and secondly what is the duty of the saints herein: The sum is, how we hold communion with Christ in holiness, as well as in righteousness, and that very briefly.

There are several acts ascribed unto the Lord Jesus in reference to this particular:

1. His interceding with the Father, by virtue of his oblation in the behalf of his, that he would bestow the Holy Spirit on them. Here I choose to enter, because, of the oblation of Christ itself, I have spoken before. Otherwise every thing is to be run up to that head, that source and spring. There lies the foundation of all spiritual mercies whatever: as afterwards also shall be manifested. Now the Spirit, as unto us, a Spirit of grace, holiness and consolation, is of the purchase of Christ. It is upon the matter, the great promise of the new covenant (Ezekiel 11:19). I will put a new Spirit within you: So also (chapter 36, verse 27; Jeremiah 32:39-40) and in sundry other places, whereof afterwards. Christ is the Mediator and Surety of this new covenant (Hebrews 7:22), Jesus was made Surety of a better testament, or rather covenant. A testament needs no surety. He is the undertaker on the part of God and man also. Of man to give satisfaction; of God to bestow the whole grace of the promise, as (chapter 9:15), For this cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called, might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. He both satisfied for sin, and procured the promise. He procures all the love and kindness, which are the fruits of the covenant; being himself the original promise thereof (Genesis 3:16). The whole being so ordered in all things, and made sure (2 Samuel 23:5), that the residue of its effects, should all be derived from him, depend upon him, and be procured by him, that he in all things might have the preeminence (Colossians 1:19), according to the compact and agreement made with him (Isaiah 53:12). They are all the purchase of his blood, and therefore the Spirit also, as promised in that covenant (1 Corinthians 1:20). Now the whole fruit and purchase of his death, is made out from the Father upon his intercession. This (John 14:16-18), He promises his disciples, that he will pursue the work which he has in hand in their behalf, and intercede with the Father for the Spirit, as a fruit of his purchase. Therefore He tells them, that He will not pray the Father for his love unto them, because the eternal love of the Father, is not the fruit, but the fountain of his purchase: but the Spirit that is a fruit, that (says He) I will pray the Father for, etc. And what Christ asks the Father as Mediator, to bestow on us, that is part of his purchase, being promised unto him upon his undertaking to do the will of God. And this is the first thing that is to be considered in the Lord Jesus, as to the communication of the Spirit of sanctification and purification; (the first thing to be considered in this our communion with him) He intercedes with his Father, that he may be bestowed on us, as a fruit of his death and bloodshed in our behalf. This is the relation of the Spirit of holiness as bestowed on us, unto the mediation of Christ. He is the great foundation of the covenant of grace; being himself everlastingly destinated, and freely given to make a purchase of all the good things thereof. Receiving according to promise the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:33), he sheds him abroad on his own. This faith considers, fixes on, dwells upon. For secondly, His prayer being granted (as the Father always hears him) He actually sends his Spirit into the hearts of his saints, there to dwell in his stead, and to do all things for them, and in them, which He himself has to do. This secondly is the Lord Christ by faith to be eyed in: and that not only in respect of the first enduing of our hearts with his Holy Spirit, but also of the continual supplies of it, drawing forth, and exciting more effectual operations and actings of that indwelling Spirit. Hence, though (John 14:16) He says, the Father will give them the Comforter, because the original and sovereign dispensation is in his hand, and it is by him made out upon the intercession of Christ, yet not being bestowed immediately on us, but (as it were) given into the hand of Christ for us, He affirms, that (as to actual collation or bestowing) he sends him himself (chapter 15, verse 26): I will send the Comforter to you from the Father. He receives him from his Father, and actually sends him unto his saints. So (chapter 16:7), I will send him: and (verses 14-15), He manifests how he will send him, He will furnish him with that which is his, to bestow upon them: He shall take of mine (of that which is properly and peculiarly so, mine as Mediator, the fruit of my life and death unto holiness) and give it unto you. But of these things more afterwards. This then is the second thing that the Lord Christ does, and which is to be eyed in him, he sends his Holy Spirit into our hearts, which is the efficient cause of all holiness and sanctification, quickening, enlightening, purifying the souls of his saints. How our union with him, with all the benefits thereon depending, flows from this his communication of the Spirit unto us, to abide with us, and to dwell in us, I have at large elsewhere declared: where also this whole matter is more fully opened. And this is to be considered in him by faith, in reference to the Spirit itself.

There is also that which we call habitual grace — the fruits of the Spirit, that which is born of the Spirit, John 3:6. That which is produced by the Holy Spirit in the heart or soul of a man when he is regenerate — that which makes him so — is spirit, in opposition to the flesh, or that enmity which is in us by nature against God. It is faith, love, joy, hope, and the rest of the graces of the gospel in their root or common principle. Concerning this, two things are to be observed.

First, though many particular graces are mentioned, there are not different habits or qualities in us, nor several distinct principles to answer to them. There is only the same habit or spiritual principle, putting forth itself in various operations or ways of working according to the variety of objects which it goes forth toward. This is their common principle. So it is called and distinguished as above rather in respect of actual exercise in relation to its objects than in respect of habitual inherence — it being one root which has these many branches.

Second, what I intend by this habit of grace is this: a new gracious spiritual life or principle, created and bestowed on the soul, whereby it is changed in all its faculties and affections, fitted and enabled to go forth in the way of obedience toward every divine object that is proposed to it according to the mind of God. For instance: the mind can discern spiritual things in a spiritual manner — therein it is light and illumination. The whole soul closes with Christ as held forth in the promises of the gospel for righteousness and salvation — that is faith, which being the main and principal work of this principle, often gives its name to the whole. When it rests in God and in Christ with delight, desire, and complacency, it is called love. This principle suits all the faculties of our souls for spiritual and living operations according to their natural use. Now it differs:

First, from the Spirit dwelling in the saints — for it is a created quality. The Spirit dwells in us as a free agent in a holy habitation. This grace as a quality remains in us as in its own proper subject, having no subsistence but therein, and is capable of being increased or diminished under great variety of degrees.

Second, from actual grace, which is transient — this habitual grace making its residence in the soul. Actual grace is an influence of divine assistance working in and by the soul in any spiritual act or duty, without any preexistence before that act or continuance after it — God working in us both to will and to do. But habitual grace is always resident in us, causing the soul to be a meet principle for all those holy and spiritual operations which by actual grace are to be performed.

Third, it is capable of augmentation and diminution as was said. In some it is more large and more effectual than in others — indeed in some persons more at one time than another. Hence are those dyings, decays, ruins, recoveries, complaints, and rejoicings of which such frequent mention is made in scripture, Psalm 51, Hosea 14:4.

These things being premised as to the nature of habitual grace, let us now consider what we are to eye in the Lord Jesus in reference to it, to make an entrance into our communion with him therein.

First, as I said of the Spirit, so I say of this habitual grace: it is of the purchase of Christ, and is so to be looked upon. It is given to us for his sake to believe on him, Philippians 1:29. The Lord, on behalf of Christ and for his sake — because it is purchased and procured by him for us — bestows faith, and by the same rule all grace, upon us. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in him, Ephesians 1:3 — in him, that is, in and through his mediation for us. His oblation and intercession lie at the bottom of this dispensation. Were not grace procured by them, it would never by any soul be enjoyed. All grace is from this fountain. In receiving it from Christ, we must always consider what it cost him — want of this weakens faith in its proper workings. His whole intercession is founded on his oblation, 1 John 2:1-2. What he purchased by his death, that — neither more nor less, as has been often said — he intercedes may be bestowed. And he prays that all his saints may have this grace, John 17:17. Did we continually consider all grace as the fruit of the purchase of Christ, it would be an exceedingly endearing thought to our spirits. Nor can we without this consideration, according to the tenor of the gospel, ask or expect any grace. It is no prejudice to the free grace of the Father to look on anything as the purchase of the Son — it was from that grace that he made that purchase. In the receiving of grace from God, we have no communion with Christ — who is yet the treasury and storehouse of it — unless we look upon it as his purchase. He has obtained that we should be sanctified throughout, have life in us, be humble, holy, and believing.

Second, the Lord Christ actually communicates this grace to his saints and bestows it on them. Of his fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace, John 1:16.

First, the Father actually invests him with all the grace of which by compact and agreement he has made a purchase — just as he received the promise of the Spirit — which is all that is of use for bringing his many sons to glory. It pleased the Father that in him all fullness should dwell, Colossians 1:17 — that he should be invested with a fullness of that grace which is needful for his people. He himself calls this the power of giving eternal life to his elect, John 17:2 — a power that is not only his ability to do it but also his right to do it. Hence this delivering of all things to him by his Father, he lays as the foundation of his invitation to sinners to come to him for refreshment. All things are delivered to me by my Father, Matthew 11:27 — come to me all that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, verse 28.

This being the covenant of the Father with him, and his promise unto him, that upon the making his soul an offering for sin, he should see his seed, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand (Isaiah 53:10). And in the verses following, the pouring out of his soul unto death, and bearing the sins of many, is laid as the bottom and procuring cause of these things. 1. Of justification, by his knowledge he shall justify many. 2. Of sanctification; in destroying the works of the devil (verses 11-12). Thus comes our merciful high priest to be the great possessor of all grace, that he may give out to us according to his own pleasure; quickening whom he will. He has it in him really as our head, in that he received not that Spirit by measure (John 3:34), which is the bond of union between him and us (1 Corinthians 6:17), whereby holding him the head, we are filled with his fullness (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 2:19). He has it as a common person intrusted with it on our behalf (Romans 5:14-17). The last Adam is made unto us a quickening spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). He is also a treasury of this grace in a moral and law sense; not only as it pleased the Father, that all fullness should dwell in him (Colossians 1:19), but also because in his mediation, as has been declared, is founded the whole dispensation of grace.

2. Being thus actually vested with this power and privilege and fullness, he designs the Spirit to take of this fullness, and to give it unto us. He shall take of mine and show it unto you (John 16:15). The Spirit takes of that fullness that is in Christ, and in the name of the Lord Jesus, bestows it actually on them, for whose sanctification he is sent. Concerning the manner and almighty efficacy of the Spirit of grace, whereby this is done (I mean, this actual collation of grace upon his peculiar ones) more will be spoken afterwards.

3. For actual grace, or that influence of power whereby the saints are enabled to perform particular duties according to the mind of God, there is not any need of further enlargement about it. What concerns our communion with the Lord Christ therein, holds proportion with what was spoken before.

There remains only one thing more to be observed concerning those things, whereof mention has been made, and I proceed to the way whereby we carry on communion with the Lord Jesus in all these. And that is, that these things may be considered two ways.

1. In respect of their first collation or bestowing on the soul. 2. In respect of their continuance and increase, as unto the degrees of them.

In the first sense, as to the real communicating of the Spirit of grace unto the soul, so raising it from death unto life, the saints have no kind of communion with Christ therein, but only what consists in a passive reception of that life-giving, quickening Spirit and power. They are but as the dead bones in the prophet, the wind blows on them, and they live: as Lazarus in the grave, Christ calls and they come forth; the call being accompanied with life, and power. This then is not that whereof particularly I speak. But it is the second in respect of further efficacy of the Spirit, and increase of grace, both habitual and actual, whereby we become more holy, and to be more powerful in walking with God, have more fruit in obedience, and success against temptations: and in this they hold communion with the Lord Christ: and wherein and how they do it, shall now be declared.

1. They continually eye the Lord Jesus as the great Joseph, that has the disposal of all the granaries of the kingdom of heaven, committed unto him; as one in whom it has pleased the Father to gather all things unto a head (Ephesians 1:10), that from him all things might be dispensed unto them. All treasures, all fullness, the Spirit not by measure, are in him. And this fullness in this Joseph in reference to their condition, they eye in these three particulars.

First, they eye Christ in the preparation for the dispensation mentioned — in the expiating, purging, purifying efficacy of his blood. It was a sacrifice not only of atonement as offered, but also of purification as poured out. Hebrews 9:13-14: for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ — who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God — purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God. This blood answers all the typical institutions for fleshly purification and therefore has a spiritually purifying, cleansing, sanctifying virtue in itself as offered and poured out. Hence it is called a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness, Zechariah 13:1 — a fountain ready prepared, efficacious in itself, before any come to it. The saints see that in themselves they are still exceedingly defiled. Indeed, to have a sight of the defilements of sin is a more spiritual discovery than to have only a sense of its guilt, which follows every conviction. Hereupon they cry with shame: unclean, unclean. Unclean in their natures, unclean in their persons, unclean in their conduct. All rolled in the blood of their defilements; their hearts by nature a sink and their lives a dunghill. They know also that no unclean thing shall enter the kingdom of God or have a place in the new Jerusalem; that God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. They cannot endure to look at themselves — and how shall they dare to appear in his presence? Though they wash themselves with lye and use much soap, yet their iniquity will continue marked, Jeremiah 2:22. For the removal of this they look in the first place to the purifying virtue of the blood of Christ, which is able to cleanse them from all their sins, 1 John 1:7. This is the spring from which flows all the purifying virtue which in the end will take away all their spots and stains, make them holy and without blemish, and present them glorious to himself, Ephesians 5:26-27. This they dwell upon with thoughts of faith; they roll it over in their minds and spirits. Here faith obtains new life and new vigor when a sense of vileness has nearly overwhelmed it. Here is a fountain opened — draw near and see its beauty, purity, and efficacy. Here is a foundation laid of that work whose accomplishment we long for. One moment's communion with Christ by faith herein is more effectual to the purging of the soul and the increasing of grace than the utmost self-endeavors of a thousand ages.

Second, they eye the blood of Christ as the blood of sprinkling. Coming to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, they come to the blood of sprinkling, Hebrews 12:24. The eyeing of the blood of Christ as shed will not of itself take away pollution. There is not only a shedding of blood — without which there is no remission, Hebrews 9:22 — but also a sprinkling of blood, without which there is no actual purification. The apostle describes this at length in Hebrews 9. When Moses had spoken every precept to the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying: this is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; it was therefore necessary that the copies of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices, Hebrews 9:19-23. He had formerly compared the blood of Christ to the blood of sacrifices as offered, in respect of the impetration and purchase it made. Now he does so unto that blood as sprinkled, in respect of its application to purification and holiness. He tells us how this sprinkling was performed — by dipping hyssop in the blood of the sacrifice and dashing it upon the things and persons to be purified, as also in the institution of the Passover, Exodus 12. Hence David, in a sense of the pollution of sin, prays that he may be purged with hyssop, Psalm 51:7. The branch of hyssop in which the blood of purification was prepared for sprinkling the unclean is, to us, the free promises of Christ. The cleansing virtue of the blood of Christ lies in the promises, as the blood of sacrifices in the hyssop, ready to pass out to those who draw near to them. Therefore the apostle argues from receiving of the promises to universal holiness and purity: having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord, 2 Corinthians 7:1. This then the saints do: they eye the blood of Christ as it is in the promise, ready to issue out upon the soul for its purification. Thence purging and cleansing virtue is to be communicated to them, and by the blood of Christ they are to be purged from all their sins, 1 John 1:7.

3. They look upon him, as in his own Spirit he is the only dispenser of the Spirit, and of all grace of sanctification and holiness. They consider that upon his intercession it is granted to him, that he shall make effectual all the fruits of his purchase to the sanctification, the purifying and making glorious in holiness of his whole people. They know that this is actually to be accomplished by the Spirit, according to the innumerable promises given to that purpose. He is to sprinkle that blood upon their souls, he is to create the holiness in them that they long after, he is to be himself in them a well of water springing up to everlasting life. In this state they look to Jesus; here faith fixes itself in expectation of his giving out the Spirit, for all these ends and purposes; mixing the promises with faith and so becoming actual partaker of all this grace. This is their way, this their communion with Christ; this is the life of faith as to grace and holiness. Blessed is the soul that is exercised therein: he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads forth her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit (Jeremiah 17:8). Convinced persons who know not Christ, nor the fellowship of his sufferings, would spin a holiness out of their own bowels: they would work it out in their own strength. They begin it with tiring endeavors, and follow it with vows, duties, resolutions, engagements, sweating at it all the day long. Thus they continue for a season; their hypocrisy for the most part ending in apostasy. The saints of God, do in the very entrance of their walking with him, reckon upon it, that they have a threefold want.

- 1. Of the Spirit of holiness, to dwell in them. - 2. Of a habit of holiness, to be infused into them. - 3. Of actual assistance, to work all their works for them;

And that if these should continue to be wanting, they can never with all their might, power, and endeavors, perform any one act of holiness before the Lord. They know that of themselves they have no sufficiency; that without Christ, they can do nothing (John 15:5), therefore they look to him who is entrusted with a fullness of all these in their behalf, and thereupon by faith derive from him an increase of that, whereof they stand in need. Thus I say, have the saints communion with Christ, as to their sanctification and holiness. From him do they receive the Spirit to dwell in them; from him the new principle of life, which is the root of all their obedience, from him have they actual assistance for every duty they are called unto. In waiting for, expectation and receiving of these blessings on the accounts before mentioned, do they spend their lives and time with him. In vain is help looked for from other mountains. In vain do men spend their strength in following after righteousness, if this be wanting. Fix your soul here! You shall not tarry until you be ashamed. This is the way, the only way, to obtain full effectual manifestations of the Spirit's dwelling in us; to have our hearts purified, our consciences purged, our sins mortified, our graces increased, our souls made humble, holy, zealous, believing; like to him; to have our lives fruitful, our deaths comfortable; let us herein abide, eying Christ by faith, to attain that measure of conformity to him, which is allotted unto us in this world, that when we shall see him as he is, we may be like unto him.

This chapter concerns communion with Christ in holiness. The several acts attributed to the Lord Christ in this regard are: 1. His intercession. 2. The sending of the Spirit. 3. The bestowing of habitual grace — what this is and what it consists of. This grace was purchased by Christ and is bestowed by Him. Also: actual grace. How the saints hold communion with Christ in these things, shown in several particulars.

We now come to consider our communion with the Lord Jesus in the grace of sanctification and purification, the various distinctions and aspects of which were discussed earlier. The same method as before must be followed, and we must show: first, what the Lord Christ does in this communion; and second, what is the duty of the saints in it. In brief: how we hold communion with Christ in holiness, just as we do in righteousness.

Several acts are attributed to the Lord Jesus in this regard:

First, His interceding with the Father — on the basis of His sacrifice — that the Holy Spirit would be given to His people. I begin here because I have already spoken of Christ's sacrifice itself. Otherwise everything ultimately flows back to that source and foundation. It is the ground of every spiritual blessing, as will be shown further. The Spirit, as He comes to us as a Spirit of grace, holiness, and comfort, is part of what Christ purchased. He is in substance the great promise of the new covenant (Ezekiel 11:19): 'I will put a new spirit within you'; see also Ezekiel 36:27 and Jeremiah 32:39-40, and other passages to be addressed later. Christ is the Mediator and Guarantor of this new covenant (Hebrews 7:22): 'Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.' A guarantee is needed for a covenant, not merely a will. He is the undertaker on behalf of both God and man — on man's behalf to render satisfaction; on God's behalf to deliver all the grace promised. As Hebrews 9:15 says: 'He is the Mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.' He both paid for sin and secured the promise. He obtained all the love and kindness that flow from the covenant, being Himself its original promise (Genesis 3:15). The whole was arranged and established (2 Samuel 23:5) so that all its blessings would flow from Him, depend on Him, and be secured by Him — that He might in all things have first place (Colossians 1:19), in accordance with the agreement made with Him (Isaiah 53:12). They are all purchased by His blood — and therefore the Spirit also, as promised in that covenant (2 Corinthians 1:20). All the fruit and purchase of His death is distributed from the Father through His intercession. He promises His disciples in John 14:16-18 that He will continue pursuing their good and intercede with the Father for the Spirit as the fruit of His purchase. He tells them He will not pray the Father to give them His love toward them, because the Father's eternal love is not the fruit but the source of His purchase; but the Spirit, who is a fruit of that purchase — that, He says, He will pray the Father for. And whatever Christ asks the Father as Mediator to bestow on us is part of His purchase, having been promised to Him upon His undertaking to do the Father's will. This is the first thing to consider regarding the Lord Jesus in the communication of the Spirit of sanctification and purification: He intercedes with His Father that the Spirit would be given to us as a fruit of His death and blood-shedding on our behalf. This is how the Spirit of holiness, as given to us, is connected to the mediation of Christ. Christ is the great foundation of the covenant of grace — eternally appointed and freely given to purchase all its blessings. Having received the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33), He pours Him out on His own. Faith considers this, fixes on it, and dwells on it. Second, His prayer being granted — as the Father always hears Him — He actually sends His Spirit into the hearts of His saints, to dwell in them in His stead and to do in them and for them all that He Himself has to do. This too is what faith is to fix on in the Lord Christ — not only with regard to the initial giving of the Holy Spirit to our hearts, but also with regard to the ongoing supply of the Spirit, drawing out and stirring up more powerful operations of that indwelling Spirit. Thus, though in John 14:16 He says the Father will give them the Comforter — because the original and sovereign dispensation is in the Father's hands, and it is the Father who makes the Spirit available through Christ's intercession — yet since the Spirit is not given to us directly but (as it were) placed in Christ's hands for us, He also says that He Himself sends the Spirit (John 15:26): 'I will send the Helper to you from the Father.' He receives the Spirit from His Father and actually sends Him to His saints. As He says in John 16:7, 'I will send Him'; and in verses 14-15 He shows how: the Spirit will take what belongs to Christ — the fruit of His life and death for holiness, properly His as Mediator — and give it to them. More will be said about this later. This then is the second thing the Lord Christ does, which faith is to fix on in Him: He sends His Holy Spirit into our hearts, who is the effective cause of all holiness and sanctification, giving life, light, and purity to the souls of His saints. How our union with Him, with all its dependent blessings, flows from this communication of the Spirit — who comes to abide and dwell in us — I have explained in detail elsewhere, where this whole subject is treated more fully. This is to be considered in Christ by faith in regard to the Spirit Himself.

There is also what we call habitual grace — the fruit of the Spirit, what is born of the Spirit (John 3:6). What the Holy Spirit produces in the heart or soul of a regenerate person — that which makes him regenerate — is spirit, in contrast to the flesh, or the inborn hostility toward God that is in us by nature. It is faith, love, joy, hope, and the rest of the gospel graces in their root or common principle. Two things must be observed about this.

First, though many individual graces are mentioned, they are not separate habits or qualities residing in us, nor are they distinct principles corresponding to each grace. There is only one habit or spiritual principle, expressing itself in various operations according to the different objects it moves toward. This is their common principle. The individual graces are named and distinguished according to their actual exercise in relation to their objects, rather than according to any distinct inherent qualities — for it is one root producing many branches.

Second, by this habit of grace I mean this: a new gracious spiritual life — a principle created and given to the soul — by which it is changed in all its faculties and affections, made fit and able to move toward every divine object proposed to it according to the will of God. For example: the mind can now perceive spiritual things in a spiritual way — in this, the grace is light and understanding. The whole soul embraces Christ as offered in the promises of the gospel for righteousness and salvation — this is faith, which, being the chief and primary expression of this principle, often gives its name to the whole. When the soul rests in God and in Christ with delight, desire, and satisfaction, it is called love. This principle equips all the faculties of our souls for spiritual and living operations suited to their nature. Now it differs:

First, it differs from the Spirit dwelling in the saints — for habitual grace is a created quality. The Spirit dwells in us as a free agent in a holy home. This grace as a quality resides in us as in its own proper subject, having no existence apart from it, and is capable of being increased or diminished across a wide range of degrees.

Second, it differs from actual grace, which is transient — habitual grace makes its home in the soul. Actual grace is a divine help that works in and through the soul in any specific spiritual act or duty, without pre-existing before that act or continuing after it — God working in us both to will and to do. But habitual grace is always present in us, enabling the soul to be a fitting source for all the holy and spiritual acts that actual grace calls it to perform.

Third, it is capable of increase and decrease, as was said. In some people it is more full and more effective than in others — and indeed in the same person, more at one time than another. This is the source of those seasons of decline, decay, ruin, recovery, complaint, and rejoicing that Scripture mentions so often (Psalm 51; Hosea 14:4).

With these observations about the nature of habitual grace in place, let us now consider what we are to fix on in the Lord Jesus in regard to it — so that we may enter into our communion with Him in this grace.

First, as I said of the Spirit, so I say of habitual grace: it is part of Christ's purchase, and is to be seen as such. It is given to us for His sake, to believe in Him (Philippians 1:29). The Lord, on behalf of Christ and for His sake — because Christ purchased and secured it for us — bestows faith, and by the same principle all grace, upon us. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Him (Ephesians 1:3) — in Him, that is, through His mediation on our behalf. His sacrifice and intercession lie at the foundation of this. If grace were not secured by them, no soul would ever receive it. All grace flows from this source. When we receive grace from Christ, we must always consider what it cost Him — failing to do so weakens faith in its proper working. His whole intercession is grounded in His sacrifice (1 John 2:1-2). What He purchased by His death — neither more nor less, as has been said repeatedly — He intercedes to have bestowed. And He prays that all His saints would have this grace (John 17:17). If we constantly viewed all grace as the fruit of Christ's purchase, it would bind our hearts to Him with great affection. Nor can we, in keeping with the gospel, ask or expect any grace apart from this consideration. To view something as the Son's purchase is no slight to the free grace of the Father — it was from that grace that He made the purchase. When we receive grace from God, we have no communion with Christ — who is yet the treasury and storehouse of it — unless we view it as His purchase. He has obtained for us our full sanctification, spiritual life, humility, holiness, and faith.

Second, the Lord Christ actually communicates this grace to His saints and bestows it on them. 'For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace' (John 1:16).

First, the Father actually invests Him with all the grace He purchased by covenant and agreement — just as He received the promise of the Spirit — which is everything needed to bring His many sons to glory. 'It was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him' (Colossians 1:19) — He was invested with the fullness of grace His people need. He Himself calls this the authority to give eternal life to His elect (John 17:2) — an authority that is not only His ability but His right. On the basis of this — everything being delivered to Him by the Father — He issues His invitation to burdened sinners to come to Him for rest. 'All things have been handed over to Me by My Father' (Matthew 11:27) — 'Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest' (verse 28).

This is the Father's covenant with Him, and His promise to Him: that after His soul was made an offering for sin, He would see His offspring, and the will of the Lord would prosper in His hand (Isaiah 53:10). In the verses that follow, His pouring out His soul to death and bearing the sins of many is laid as the ground and procuring cause of two things: 1. Justification — 'by His knowledge He will justify many.' 2. Sanctification — in destroying the works of the devil (Isaiah 53:11-12). Thus our merciful high priest becomes the great possessor of all grace, so that He may distribute it to us according to His own pleasure, giving life to whom He will. He has this fullness actually in Himself as our head, having received the Spirit without measure (John 3:34) — the Spirit being the bond of union between Him and us (1 Corinthians 6:17) — through which, as we hold to Him as the head, we are filled with His fullness (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 2:19). He has it as a public representative person, entrusted with it on our behalf (Romans 5:14-17). The last Adam became a life-giving spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). He is also a treasury of grace in the moral and covenantal sense — not only because it pleased the Father for all fullness to dwell in Him (Colossians 1:19), but also because His mediation, as has been shown, is the foundation of the entire dispensation of grace.

2. Being thus invested with this authority, this privilege, and this fullness, He arranges for the Spirit to take from this fullness and give it to us. 'He will take of Mine and disclose it to you' (John 16:15). The Spirit takes from the fullness that is in Christ and, in the name of the Lord Jesus, actually bestows it on those for whose sanctification He is sent. More will be said later about the manner and almighty power of the Spirit of grace by which He does this — that is, the actual giving of grace to Christ's own people.

3. As for actual grace — the enabling power by which the saints are fitted to perform specific duties according to the will of God — there is no need to say more about it here. What concerns our communion with the Lord Christ in actual grace follows the same lines as what was said before.

One more thing must be noted before I turn to the way we carry on communion with the Lord Jesus in all these things. These things may be considered in two ways.

1. In respect of their first bestowing on the soul. 2. In respect of their continuance and increase over time.

In the first sense — that is, the actual communication of the Spirit of grace to the soul, raising it from death to life — the saints have no active communion with Christ; they only passively receive that life-giving, quickening Spirit and power. They are like the dry bones in the prophet: the wind blows on them and they live. They are like Lazarus in the tomb: Christ calls and they come out, the call carrying life and power with it. This, therefore, is not what I am specifically addressing. What I am addressing is the second sense — the further working of the Spirit, and the increase of grace both habitual and actual, by which we grow more holy, more powerful in walking with God, more fruitful in obedience, and more effective against temptations. It is in this that the saints hold communion with the Lord Christ, and I will now explain how.

1. They continually fix their eyes on the Lord Jesus as the great Joseph who has control over all the storehouses of the kingdom of heaven entrusted to him — as the One in whom the Father was pleased to gather all things together (Ephesians 1:10), so that everything might be distributed from Him. All treasures, all fullness, the Spirit without measure — they are all in Him. This fullness in Him, this Joseph, they fix on in three particular ways.

First, they fix their eyes on Christ with regard to the preparation for this distribution — specifically, the cleansing and purifying power of His blood. It was a sacrifice not only of atonement as offered, but also of purification as poured out. 'For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God' (Hebrews 9:13-14). This blood fulfills all the typological institutions for physical cleansing and therefore has a spiritually purifying, cleansing, and sanctifying power in itself as offered and poured out. Therefore it is called 'a fountain opened for sin and for impurity' (Zechariah 13:1) — a fountain already prepared and effective in itself, before anyone comes to it. The saints see that in themselves they are still deeply defiled. Indeed, seeing the defilement of sin is a more spiritual insight than simply feeling the guilt of it, which follows from every conviction. On that account they cry in shame: unclean, unclean. Unclean in their nature, unclean in their persons, unclean in their conduct. Covered in the filth of their defilement; their hearts by nature a cesspool and their lives a rubbish heap. They know too that nothing unclean will enter the kingdom of God or have a place in the new Jerusalem; that God is too pure to look on evil. They cannot bear to look at themselves — and how dare they appear in His presence? Even if they scrubbed with lye and used an abundance of soap, their guilt would still remain (Jeremiah 2:22). For the removal of this they look first to the cleansing power of the blood of Christ, which is able to cleanse them from all their sin (1 John 1:7). This is the spring from which flows all the purifying power that will in the end remove all their stains, make them holy and blameless, and present them glorious to Himself (Ephesians 5:26-27). They dwell on this with thoughts of faith; they turn it over in their minds and hearts. Here faith finds new life and new strength when a sense of wretchedness has nearly crushed it. Here is a fountain opened — come near and see its beauty, purity, and power. Here is the foundation laid for the completion of the work we long for. One moment of communion with Christ by faith here is more effective for cleansing the soul and increasing grace than every self-effort a person could make over a thousand lifetimes.

Second, they fix their eyes on the blood of Christ as the blood of sprinkling. Coming to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, they come 'to the sprinkled blood' (Hebrews 12:24). Simply seeing the blood of Christ as shed will not in itself take away pollution. There is not only the shedding of blood — without which there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22) — but also the sprinkling of blood, without which there is no actual purification. The apostle describes this at length in Hebrews 9. When Moses had spoken every commandment to the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying: 'This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.' He also sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the utensils of the ministry. 'And almost all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness'— therefore it was necessary that the copies of the heavenly things be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices (Hebrews 9:19-23). The apostle had earlier compared the blood of Christ to the blood of sacrifices as offered, in regard to what it secured and purchased. Now he compares it to blood as sprinkled, in regard to its application for purification and holiness. He explains how this sprinkling was done — by dipping hyssop in the blood of the sacrifice and dashing it upon the persons and things to be purified, as also in the institution of the Passover (Exodus 12). Hence David, feeling the pollution of sin, prays to be purged with hyssop (Psalm 51:7). The branch of hyssop in which the purifying blood was prepared for sprinkling the unclean represents, for us, the free promises of Christ. The cleansing power of Christ's blood resides in the promises, as the blood of the sacrifice rested in the hyssop — ready to flow out to those who draw near to them. Therefore the apostle reasons from receiving the promises to complete holiness and purity: 'Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God' (2 Corinthians 7:1). This then is what the saints do: they fix their eyes on the blood of Christ as it dwells in the promises, ready to flow out upon the soul for its purification. From there cleansing power is communicated to them, and by the blood of Christ they are purged from all their sins (1 John 1:7).

3. They look to Him as, through His own Spirit, the sole dispenser of the Spirit and of all the grace of sanctification and holiness. They consider that through His intercession it has been granted to Him to make fully effective all the fruits of His purchase — for the sanctification, the cleansing, and the glorious transformation in holiness of all His people. They know this is actually accomplished by the Spirit, according to the countless promises given for that purpose. The Spirit is to sprinkle that blood upon their souls, to create the holiness in them that they long for, and to be Himself in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. In this posture they look to Jesus; faith fixes itself here in expectation of His giving out the Spirit for all these ends; mingling the promises with faith and thereby becoming actual partakers of all this grace. This is their way, this their communion with Christ; this is the life of faith in regard to grace and holiness. Blessed is the soul exercised in this: 'He will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit' (Jeremiah 17:8). Convicted people who do not know Christ, and have no share in the fellowship of His sufferings, try to spin holiness out of themselves — they try to work it up in their own strength. They begin with exhausting efforts and pursue it through vows, duties, resolutions, commitments, and endless toil. They keep this up for a time, but their hypocrisy usually ends in falling away. The saints of God, from the very beginning of their walk with Him, reckon on having a threefold need:

1. The Spirit of holiness to dwell in them. 2. A habit of holiness to be infused into them. 3. Actual assistance to work all their works in them.

And they know that if these are lacking, all their effort, strength, and striving will never produce one act of true holiness before the Lord. They know they have no sufficiency in themselves; that apart from Christ they can do nothing (John 15:5). Therefore they look to Him, who holds a fullness of all these in trust for them, and by faith they draw from Him the increase of what they need. This, then, is how the saints hold communion with Christ in their sanctification and holiness. From Him they receive the Spirit to dwell in them; from Him the new principle of life, which is the root of all their obedience; from Him they receive actual help for every duty they are called to. In waiting, in expectation, and in receiving these blessings on the grounds described — they spend their lives and time with Him. To look for help from any other source is futile. To spend your strength pursuing righteousness in any other way is futile, if this is missing. Fix your soul here! You will not have to wait long before you are supplied. This is the way — the only way — to obtain the full and effective indwelling of the Spirit; to have our hearts purified, our consciences cleansed, our sins put to death, our graces increased, our souls made humble, holy, zealous, and believing; to become like Him; to have our lives fruitful and our deaths peaceful. Let us abide in this, fixing our eyes by faith on Christ, to attain the measure of conformity to Him that is appointed for us in this world — so that when we see Him as He is, we may be like Him.